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Frequently asked questions
This is an unofficial, user-created Frequently Asked Questions for the Duolingo language-learning website. For official information about Duolingo, see https://www.duolingo.com/info. 'Incubator (new language course creation)' 'What is the language Incubator?' :The Duolingo language Incubator is where bilingual volunteers from around the world connect to build new language courses for Duolingo. 'When will Duolingo teach language X?' : New courses are being added to Duolingo using the Duolingo Incubator. You can see which courses are currently being "incubated" at http://incubator.duolingo.com/. The Incubator relies on volunteers who are fluent in both languages, so if you know someone who is, encourage them to apply at http://incubator.duolingo.com/apply. Currently Duolingo is adding new courses slowly in order to make sure everything in the Incubator is working properly, but they plan on adding courses for as many as 50 more languages in 2014"Luis von Ahn on Duolingo's Plans for 2014", http://www.crowdsourcing.org/editorial/luis-von-ahn-on-duolingos-plans-for-2014/30191, so stay tuned. 'How do I apply to create a course teaching language A to language B speakers?' * If you're fluent in both languages, you can apply to help create a Duolingo course at http://incubator.duolingo.com/apply. * If the language you want to teach to or from is not listed in the drop-down menus, select "Enter Other" and type it in. : : 'I want to help create courses in both directions between two languages. Do I need to apply separately for each direction?' : Nope, you only need to apply for one of the directions. The Duolingo staff will review applications for both directions when assembling a team for either direction.https://www.duolingo.com/comment/1670141 Much of an original course's content will also be used to create its "reverse course", so by contributing to one course direction you will also be contributing to the opposite direction as well. : Note: An example: The reverse course (aka Reverse Tree) of Spanish for English Speakers is English for Spanish Speakers. 'When will I hear back on my application?' : Duolingo is rolling out new Incubator courses slowly at first, so it may take some time before they are ready to incubate the course you applied for. They are also receiving thousands of applications for Incubator contributors and those take some time to go through."Incubator Updates", https://www.duolingo.com/comment/1377701 'How long does it take a course to leave Phase 1 in the Incubator?' * For a rough estimate of when a course will leave Phase 1 and enter Phase 2 (aka "beta" phase ), please visit the Duolingo Incubator page at http://incubator.duolingo.com/ and click on the course you're interested in. An estimated completion date will be shown below the course progress bar. (Image). * Some courses have been made in under two months. Others have taken 4 months or even longer. A couple of factors include how much time volunteers have to give each week and whether or not Duolingo already has an interface ready for that language's script (examples of scripts include: Latin, Kanji, Arabic, Cyrillic, etc.); and whether or not Duolingo has to create a new interface for that language. If Duolingo has to create a new interface, the course will take longer to move into Phase 2. * Once a course is complete, it will move to Phase 2 and will be available for use by Duolingo website users. : 'What is a "beta" course?' : It means that it's a relatively new course and there might be some errors, so it's going through a "beta" or testing phase before it's "officially" released. : Note: Anyone can sign up to take a beta (Phase 2) course on the website. However, stage is mainly intended for bilingual users to test the course and report any errors for correction. 'How long does a course stay in beta (Phase 2)?' : How long courses stay in beta will vary; but a rough estimate is 1-3 months. : Note: Courses are released from beta once they meet certain quality requirements. One of those requirements includes keeping the Tree "gold" and receiving under a certain number of error reports for a given period of time. needed. : Note: For people taking a course, they keep their Tree gold by keeping their skills up to date. For course contributors, they keep their Tree gold by by addressing error reports sent in by beta testers. Source: https://www.duolingo.com/comment/1579388 : 'Lessons/Courses' 'What's a language tree?' :The way Duolingo teaches requires users to finish a skill or set of skills before moving on to the next set. The skills are displayed in a way that makes them look slightly like a tree. This is the language "tree". You must complete all the skills on each row of the tree before moving to the next row. Each skill is made up of multiple lessons. How can I practice what I've learned? :There are several ways to practice skills you've already learned: * Untimed practice - Complete 20 exercises with no more than 3 incorrect answers. You earn 10 XP for successful completion plus 1 XP for each heart you have left at the end of the practice, for a maximum gain of 13 XP. Untimed practice is accessible via the "Strengthen skills" button on the Home page. * Timed practice - Race against the countdown clock to complete 20 exercises. Time gets added to the clock for each correct response you give. The practice ends when you complete all 20 exercises or run out of time. You earn 1 XP for each correct response, for a maximum gain of 20 XP. Timed practice is a feature purchasable in the lingot store. Once it's been purchased, it is accessible via the "Strengthen skills" button on the Home page. * Immersion - Practice reading and translating real-world documents in the language you are learning while helping and being helped by other learners. Immersion is accessible via the "Immersion" tab at the top of the page and sometimes also via the "Real world practice" button that appears below the "Strengthen skills" button on the Home page. See the Immersion Navigation Guide for tips on how to use Immersion. How does skill/word strength work? : Skill strength is a measure of users' proficiency with a particular skill. It is affected by"Notice some changes in word strength?", https://www.duolingo.com/comment/486819: *'Accuracy' - the correctness of users' responses during the lessons; *'Peeking' - frequency of users' peek (highlights or views definitions of a word) during a lesson; *'Practice Frequency '- the number of times user practice; *'Time' - the last time the user practiced; and *'Other metrics - '''metrics only known to Duolingo. 'How do I change what course I'm taking? #From the '''Home tab (https://www.duolingo.com/), click the flag icon in the top right of the language progress section. (Image) #Choose the course you want from the "Learning Language" options. #Click "Save changes". : Note: Changing to a course with a different Base language (the language the course teaches from, e.g. English in the example image above) will also change the Duolingo web interface to that language. 'What happened to the vocabulary section?' : The vocabulary section was recently removed as part of Duolingo's recent site redesign. There are plans to add a new and improved vocabulary section in the near future."100% of users upgraded to the website redesign", https://www.duolingo.com/comment/1725038 'How do I report an error in an exercise?' : You can report an error in an exercise using the "Report a Problem" button that appears below the exercise after you've entered your answer. Clicking on the button will display a list of common errors (depending on the type of exercise) as well as a text area to type in your own error report. Check the checkbox(es) next to the error(s) you wish to report and click "Submit". (Image) : 'Where can I get help on an exercise?'"What would you want to see in a FAQ?", https://www.duolingo.com/comment/781395 *If you are doing a lesson (as opposed to a practice), look for the "Tips & notes" button near the top right of the exercise area. Clicking this button will display some helpful grammar information entered by the course creators. *If you still have a question after you've submitted your response to an exercise, look for the "Discuss sentence" button that appears below the exercise area. See if your question has already been asked and answered there. If it hasn't, go ahead and ask it there. : : Note: Do NOT use the Sentence Discussion area to report an error of translation (e.g. that a correct translation is not accepted) that you are reasonably sure about. Use the "Report a Problem" button for this instead. You can, however, ask in the discussion area whether a translation should be accepted if you aren't sure, as long as the question hasn't already been asked and answered. (Image) : Note: Do NOT post redundant comments. If someone has already said it, don't say it again. (Image) : 'How can I help others learn my language?' : In the "Discussion" tab there are language sections which contain general questions about that language as well as questions about specific sentences taught through Duolingo lessons. When answering a question try to back up your answer with dictionary or grammar references. : If there is not a section for the language you want to help with visible in the discussion area, you will have to change to a course teaching that language to see it. Instructions for doing so are available here. 'How do I change the voice of the person who pronounces the words and sentences?' : Duolingo currently doesn't support that. 'What is an "XP"?' : "XP" is short for "e'x'''perience '''p'oint" and is a reward you get for finishing lessons or practices or for making or rating translations in the Immersion section. As your XP increase so does your Duolingo language level. 'What is the highest level?' : The highest level you can reach in a language course is 25. 'How many XP do I need to get to the highest level?' : You need 30,000 XP to reach level 25. 'What does my level really mean?' : It just means that you've accumulated a certain number of XP from doing lessons & practices and using Immersion. Some correlation has been found between XP and word "peeks" on the one hand and standardized language test results on the other"Duolingo’s Data-Driven Approach to Education", http://blog.duolingo.com/post/41960192602/duolingos-data-driven-approach-to-education but the correlation isn't perfect. The correlation may also change as Duolingo changes how much XP is awarded for each task. 'How effective is Duolingo at teaching a language?' : One study found that "a person with no knowledge of Spanish would need between 26 and 49 hours (or 34 hours on average) Duolingo to cover the material for the first college semester of Spanish.""How effective is Duolingo?", https://www.duolingo.com/effectiveness-study More information is available here. 'Will I be fluent when I finish Duolingo?' :No, probably not. You will get out what you put into it, but without taking advantage of other resources you are unlikely to attain true fluency. You will, however, have a solid base for more learning and the ability to learn more through other methods, including Immersion on the website. 'What dialect does Duolingo teach for language X?' *English: American *Spanish: Latin American *French: Parisian *Portuguese: Brazilian 'Should I learn multiple languages at the same time?' : This really depends on personal preference and ability. You may refer to this article or this for a more detailed discussion. 'Input methods' 'Is there an easier way to type accented and special characters than using the clickable buttons?' : You can install a keyboard layout that supports typing accented and special characters even on a keyboard that isn't marked for them. For instructions on how to do that, see the Guide to Installing Keyboard Layouts. For information on some of the layout options available to install, see the Guide to keyboard layouts and input methods. : Windows users can also use Alt codes and Mac OS users can use key combinations accessible from their default keyboard layout. 'How can I type accented and special characters on my cell phone?' : On an Android device, tapping and holding on a letter key will bring up the option of adding an accent to it. Tapping and holding on the "s" key will bring up the option to type "ß". 'Immersion' 'What is "Immersion" and how do I use it?' : Immersion is a section of the Duolingo website where users practice the language they are learning by helping to translate real-world documents from that language to their native one. Much more information and frequently-asked questions about Immersion can be found in the Immersion Navigation Guide and the Immersion Community Guidelines. The "Immersion" is only possible for courses, that have left the "Beta" stage. 'What happens to a document once it's been translated? ' : Unsponsored documents are not automatically copied anywhere. Instead, there is a button allowing the document uploader to download the translated version, which they can then put on another site provided they have the rights to do so. Instructions for downloading a translation are available here. 'What dialect (e.g. US vs UK English, Brazil vs Portugal Portuguese) should the translations use?' : Whenever possible users should strive to use standard words that have the same meaning in most dialects. Users can also follow the regional guidelines in the Immersion Community Guidelines. 'How do I upload a finished translation to Wikipedia' (or Wikinews, Wikibooks, etc.)? : See How to Move Your Document from Immersion to a website. 'Should Immersion translations be natural or literal?' : Duolingo staff have indicated that they "much prefer natural translations, and not word by word"."Clarifying purpose of Immersion (article translation)", http://www.duolingo.com/comment/924931 'What kind of content can I upload to Immersion?' : All documents that are uploaded to immersion must comply with Duolingo's terms and guidelines. 'Is there any official style guide for Immersion?' : No, there is no official style guide for immersion for any language, but users can consult the Immersion Community Guidelines' recommended style guides. 'How should the documents be formatted (e.g. dates)?' : There are no official guidelines for formatting text, but users can consult the Immersion Community Guidelines' recommended style guides. 'Mobile' 'What mobile devices does Duolingo support?' : Duolingo supports iOS and Android devices. 'Can I use Duolingo offline?' : Yes, users can do some lessons while offline and using the apps "The Duolingo Android App now has an offline mode!", https://www.duolingo.com/comment/733368. 'Can I access the discussion forum using the app?' : No, the main discussion forum is only available through the web. However, users can access the sentence discussions using the app "Fifth Gift: Sentence Discussions on Android!", https://www.duolingo.com/comment/1311152. 'General' 'Where can I get help?' : There are various places to get help: * To report spam or abuse, contact the Duolingo support staff by emailing support@duolingo.com or by clicking on the "Support" tab on the left edge of the Duolingo website. * For troubleshooting technical issues with Duolingo, you can either use the above email address or support tab or post in the "Troubleshooting" section in the "Discussion" area. * For language-related questions you can post in a sentence-specific discussion area (using the "Discuss sentence" button appearing after you've submitted your answer) or in the appropriate language-specific forum. * For general questions about Duolingo, please search for an answer on this wiki (using the search box near the upper right corner of the page) as well as in the main Duolingo discussion area (using the search box to the left of the "New Discussion" button) and the additional resources linked here. (For best results, try to narrow down your query to one or two key words and search for that.) If you cannot find an answer to your question in any of those places then you can ask about it in the main Duolingo discussion area or by contacting Duolingo support via the above-mentioned methods. 'What are followers and friends ?' : Followers are users who are interested in seeing a user's updates, posts, or progress through the tree. Friends are people who a user follows. 'What is a lingot?' : Lingots are an in-game virtual currency used to reward people for various accomplishments related to language learning and translation. Lingots can be used to buy bonus skills, certificates, extra hearts, streak freezes, timed practice and to reward people in the forum. 'How do I earn lingots?' :The exact ways one earns lingots can change when the Duolingo team add or modify features of the site. The latest information on how to earn lingots can be found at the bottom of the Lingot Store page. 'What is the Lingot Store ?' :The Lingot Store is a section of the Duolingo website where users can purchase certain items using lingots. More information can be found in the Lingot Store section. 'I have feature X but my friend' doesn't (or vice versa). Why? : Part of what makes Duolingo so great is that it is constantly trying to improve itself. One of the ways it does this is by testing possible new features on a subset of its users before rolling it out to everyone. This way it can tell whether the feature is actually an improvement or not before it commits to it. That's why you will sometimes have a feature that your friends don't have or vice versa. 'How do streaks and streak freezes work?' : See Streak and Streak Freeze. 'I love Duolingo. How can I help the site?' *Tell people about it. The more people who use and contribute to Duolingo, the better it can become. *Once you start getting the knack of the language you're learning, try translating some real-world content in the Immersion section at https://www.duolingo.com/translations. Documents that are marked as "Sponsored" help Duolingo pay the bills, and even unsponsored documents help Duolingo to refine its algorithms for finding the best translations. *Help other learners who are learning languages you know by interacting with them in the language discussion areas. *If you or someone you know is fluent in two (or more!) languages, you can help Duolingo make new language courses or improve existing ones. Apply at http://incubator.duolingo.com/apply. *If you see an error in one of Duolingo's language exercises, report it using these instructions. Reporting errors helps Duolingo make its courses even better. 'Can I donate money to Duolingo?' : Duolingo does not currently accept donations. It earns money from its users translating real-world content in the Immersion section. 'Can I buy a Duolingo shirt' or stickers or something? :Yes, Duolingo has a gear store with items for purchase. Note that all items are priced at cost, so Duolingo makes no money off them, but they can be a nice way of showing your Duolingo Pride and spreading the word about the site. 'This FAQ doesn't answer my question. Where else can I find answers?' *Official Duolingo information pages *Official Duolingo Help Page *Another user-created FAQ *Guide to Duolingo guides *Immersion navigation guide 'References'